Tommy Chong Going to Jail for Bongs.... I am sorry but this is ridiculous.

[dutchdemocrat]

In Holland, we have 800 places in the country where you can BUY grass! Is this what Ashcroft is up too?

----------

Comedian Chong Sentenced on Drug Charges
40 minutes ago

By DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer

PITTSBURGH - Tommy Chong (news), who played one half of the dope-smoking duo in the Cheech and Chong movies, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison and fined $20,000 Thursday for selling bongs and other drug paraphernalia over the Internet.




The 65-year-old was allowed to remain free until federal prison officials tell him in a few weeks where he must report to prison.


Chong also forfeited about $100,000 for his arrest on federal drug paraphernalia charges. He'll spend a year on probation after he's released from prison.


His Nice Dreams Enterprises, which made a line of marijuana bongs and pipes, was to be sentenced later Thursday. Under federal law, the business itself can be placed on probation or face other sanctions.

CUT


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030911/ap_on_en_mo/chong_s_bongs_1

[Beetwasher]

1. This is fucking outrageous!

n/t

[VermontDem2004]

2. The drug laws are getting insane

I wish I was in Holand right now, but I will keep fighting to get marijuana legal over here.

[Hawkeye-X]

3. Chong should delay going to prison as long as possible

and appeal this decision so it can be overturned. This is a total farce by A$$KKKroft.

Selling bongs and other drug parapherelia is perfectly legal. Selling weed isn't. And Chong isn't selling weed.

Hawkeye-X

[tom_paine]

4. These are the Good Old Days in Imperial Amerika

We have MUCH further to slide before the country is how the Bushveiks would like to have it.

[slackmaster]

5. It is unbelievably hypocritical

In a country where you can go to an upper-class neighborhood like La Jolla, California and buy pricey, highly artistic bongs in a retail store that sells nothing but drug paraphernalia.

[SoCalDem]

46. There is a convenience store here that sells them

They have TONS of them..

What a stupid thing Asscrust has done..

Instead of going full force after KennyBoy and the corporate THIEVES, he's after Tommy Chong... ...Amazing...:(

[wtmusic]

6. He makes beautiful stuff too

There's a mirror somewhere of his bong site...unbelievable glasswork.

Making an example out of the guy because he's famous. Pathetic.

[Pastiche423]

48. Beautiful glasswork

Mirrored site:

http://www.thememoryhole.org/drugs/pipe-sites/chong-glass.htm

Unfuckingreal!

If someone pleads guilty, can they still appeal?

[ixion]

7. I really can't believe Ashkkkroft got away with this

Chong's case should have never made it to trial.

[glarius]

26. Maybe Ashcroft is using Chong to get even with Canada....LOL

I'm joking but Tommy Chong is a Canadian and maybe crazy Ashcroft is paying back Canada for not joining the Iraq attack!!!

[grytpype]

8. Really, really sad.

He should have known better, but still, it's a very sad story.

[VermontDem2004]

13. Who should of known better?

You can smoke egyptian tobacco through a bong, what Chong was doing was perfectly legal.

[0007]

9. I agree!

A police state for sure. I'm pissed.

[Khephra]

10. The Right is going to regret this

Cheech and Chong have reunited and are doing (or maybe have already done) a new movie together. You can bet that Ashcroft and Bush will not get off easily in it.

[mike_c]

11. ashKKKroft can have my bong...

...when he pries from my cold dead hands (with reluctant apologies to Charlton Heston).

[arcane1]

12. DOES ANYONE FEEL SAFER NOW????

Ed Rosenthal AND Tommy Chong?????

FUCK YOU JOHN ASHCROFT!!!!!!

try catching the Anthrax assassin, these shadowy terra-ists, fucking ANYTHING as long as it is actually dangerous!

but no, someone sells plastic pipes and suddenly that gets all the attention :grr:

[elfwitch]

24. Safer??

It does make the country safer when you bust people whose highest priority is raiding the corner store for snacks.

Let's not bust people who rape the environment or abscond with working people's retitrement funds. Those people are patriots.

Stoners need to be hunted dow, alright! tey might get ideas. Thinking is bad. Pleasure is bad.

These bunch of Puritans wouldn't know a good time if it were sitting on their face. They aren't allowed to have fun, so you can't either.

Wonder when they are going to bring back witch burnings?
Maybe I should invest in some fire-proof attire before they come for me too.

:mad:

[DS1]

14. I'd be on the first bus to mexico if I were him

or more likely, Vancouver!

[Enraged_Ape]

15. Alligator clips, beer cans, apples

When do the producers of these things get thrown in prison?

This is just freaking outrageous. I cannot believe this.

[rucky]

20. Apples?!

eom

[DS1]

33. oh yeah

It's tasty, but a little inefficient

[Enraged_Ape]

38. Yep. Apples.

Gives a very mellow, sweet draw...or so I've been told. I personally am anti-drug, but I've been around the block a few times.

Let's face it, when it comes to getting high, people become very resourceful. A bong can be made out of just about anything.

[TioDiego]

16. So where is Kenny Boy?

Dang it.

[11 Bravo]

19. My thought exactly!

n/t

[FluxRostrum]

36. an Oranges... toilet paper tubes.. tin foil...

http://fluxrostrum.com/MindFlux/misc/Bush-Enron.htm

[SidDithers]

17. Tommy, come home!

You can sell all the bongs you want here, can probably even export them to Amercian buyers without too much trouble.

Get back to your roots, mano.

Sid

[E_Zapata]

18. Okay - what LAW is he being charged under?

Are drug charges not normally a STATE issue?

WTF????????

[TAH6988]

21. Appears that he sold them over the INTERNET

which may mean that he sold them to people in several states. Perhap interstate selling of drug para. is a federal offense.

[VermontDem2004]

27. The only thing that makes a bong

drug paraphenia is if it has resin on it, if not, egyptian tobacco could be smoked through it.

[TAH6988]

34. Don't tell me...

I didn't arrest nor try him. I'm sure his lawyer was aware of that so there could be more to it.

[arcane1]

23. I believe it's due to the interstate nature of net sales

selling in a state that it's ok to sell in is one thing, but selling online gets the feds involved because you are crossing state lines, and the destination state might have other laws...


bullshit, IMHO

[DuctapeFatwa]

31. It isnt really necessary to charge him with anything

If the regime wants him, or anyone else, locked up, they can seize them and lock them up. The days of charges and attorneys and constitutional protections are gone.

Just ask Jose Padilla. Oh, wait, Jose has been held for over a year incomunicado, you won't be able to ask him.

[joshdawg]

22. completely ridiculous,

but it is to be expected of anyone in this mis-administration.

[E_Zapata]

25. Oh my - he pleaded Guilty.

He pleaded it. I cannot believe he pleaded guilty.

Where is the ACLU?

"His plea followed a series of DEA raids in February in which at least 55 people were charged with trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia. Federal officials said the investigation targeted the nation's biggest Internet distributors of paraphernalia.

Prosecutors said Chong was the first person to plead guilty in the raids. "

Illegal Paraphenalia.

Better get after all those insulin users next.

[flamingyouth]

28. Ridiculous! Rapists, murderers go free

due to lack of prison space. Give me a break!

I say, Legalize It! And NOW!

[VermontDem2004]

29. Agreed!

:toast: :smoke:

[dutchdemocrat]

30. Bio

This is bad... read bad.



Canadian born Tommy Chong could boast a curious mixed lineage: Chinese, French, Scotch and Irish. A musician by inclination, Chong dropped out of high school as a sophomore, frequently working as a band member to support himself. At one point, Chong was playing with The Vancouvers, for whom he helped write a hit song, "Does Your Mama Know About Me?" Chong was exposed to quite a few improvisational comedy groups during his musical career; he developed a knack for getting laughs on his own, forming an improv group called City Works, which performed at a Vancouver nitery run by Tommy's brother. It is here that Chong met erstwhile humorist Richard "Cheech" Marin, who'd left his native Los Angeles for Canada in order to avoid the draft. Breaking away from City Works two years later, Cheech and Chong (as the act was now known) developed several routines built around the characters of two dim-witted dopers who aspired to nothing more than "good grass." By 1972, the team had won a Grammy award for their scatologically hilarious comedy albums. Cheech and Chong's record producer Lou Adler decided that the boys were movie material. The team's first film Up in Smoke (1978) turned out to be one of Warner Bros.' highest grossing films (in every sense of the word). Subsequent Cheech and Chong films didn't do quite so well; perhaps their time had passed, or perhaps their material was just too thin for a stream of comedy hits. In recent years, Cheech and Chong have worked separately and together with variable success, and both have contributed their vocal talents to Disney cartoon features. Chong is the father of actress Rae Dawn.



Date of birth (location)
24 May 1938
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Trivia
Has two children with first wife Maxine: daughters Rae Dawn (born 1961)... (show more)
Sometimes Credited As:
Thomas Chong
Tommy Chong


Filmography as: Actor, Writer, Composer, Director, Producer, Miscellaneous Crew, Himself, Notable TV Guest Appearances
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Actor - filmography
(2000s) (1990s) (1980s) (1970s)

Best Buds (2003) .... Tommy Chong/Carlos
... aka Tommy Chong's Best Buds (2003)
High Times Potluck (2001) .... Hippie
Wash, The (2001) .... Dee's Connection
Secret Agent 420 (2000) .... QP


"That '70s Show" (1998) TV Series .... Leo (1999-2002)
Half Baked (1998) .... Squirrel Master
McHale's Navy (1997) .... Armando/Ernesto
Senior Trip (1995) .... Red
... aka National Lampoon's Senior Trip (1995) (USA: complete title)
Life After Sex (1992)
FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) (voice) .... Root
... aka FernGully 1 (1992) (USA: short title)
Tripwire (1990) .... Merle Shine
Spirit of '76, The (1990) .... Stoner
Far Out Man (1990) .... Far Out Man
... aka Soul Man II (1990)


Get Out of My Room (1985) .... The Man
... aka Cheech and Chong: Get Out of My Room (1985)
After Hours (1985) (as Thomas Chong) .... Pepe
Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984) .... Corsican Brother
Yellowbeard (1983) .... El Nebuloso
Still Smokin' (1983) .... Chong
... aka Cheech and Chong: Still Smokin' (1983)
Things Are Tough All Over (1982) .... Chong/Prince Habib
Nice Dreams (1981) .... Chong
... aka Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (1981) (USA: complete title)
Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1980) .... Chong
... aka High Encounters of the Ultimate Kind (1980)


Up in Smoke (1978) .... Anthony 'Man' Stoner
... aka Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke (1978)
... aka Cheech and Chong: Up in Smoke (1978)





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filmography as: Actor, Writer, Composer, Director, Producer, Miscellaneous Crew, Himself, Notable TV Guest Appearances
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Writer - filmography
(2000s) (1990s) (1980s) (1970s)

Best Buds (2003)
... aka Tommy Chong's Best Buds (2003)


Far Out Man (1990)
... aka Soul Man II (1990)


Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984)
Still Smokin' (1983)
... aka Cheech and Chong: Still Smokin' (1983)
Things Are Tough All Over (1982) (as Thomas Chong)
Nice Dreams (1981)
... aka Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (1981) (USA: complete title)
Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1980)
... aka High Encounters of the Ultimate Kind (1980)


Up in Smoke (1978)
... aka Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke (1978)
... aka Cheech and Chong: Up in Smoke (1978)





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filmography as: Actor, Writer, Composer, Director, Producer, Miscellaneous Crew, Himself, Notable TV Guest Appearances
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Composer - filmography
(1990s) (1980s) (1970s)

Senior Trip (1995) (song) (uncredited)
... aka National Lampoon's Senior Trip (1995) (USA: complete title)
Far Out Man (1990) (song)
... aka Soul Man II (1990)


Get Out of My Room (1985) (songs)
... aka Cheech and Chong: Get Out of My Room (1985)
Still Smokin' (1983) (songs)
... aka Cheech and Chong: Still Smokin' (1983)
Things Are Tough All Over (1982) (songs)
Nice Dreams (1981) (songs)
... aka Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (1981) (USA: complete title)
Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1980) (songs)
... aka High Encounters of the Ultimate Kind (1980)


Up in Smoke (1978) (songs)
... aka Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke (1978)
... aka Cheech and Chong: Up in Smoke (1978)





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filmography as: Actor, Writer, Composer, Director, Producer, Miscellaneous Crew, Himself, Notable TV Guest Appearances
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Director - filmography
(2000s) (1990s) (1980s) (1970s)

Best Buds (2003) (uncredited) (scenes deleted)
... aka Tommy Chong's Best Buds (2003)


Far Out Man (1990)
... aka Soul Man II (1990)


Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984)
Still Smokin' (1983)
... aka Cheech and Chong: Still Smokin' (1983)
Nice Dreams (1981)
... aka Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (1981) (USA: complete title)
Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1980)
... aka High Encounters of the Ultimate Kind (1980)


Up in Smoke (1978) (uncredited)
... aka Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke (1978)
... aka Cheech and Chong: Up in Smoke (1978)





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filmography as: Actor, Writer, Composer, Director, Producer, Miscellaneous Crew, Himself, Notable TV Guest Appearances
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Producer - filmography

Best Buds (2003) (executive producer)
... aka Tommy Chong's Best Buds (2003)





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filmography as: Actor, Writer, Composer, Director, Producer, Miscellaneous Crew, Himself, Notable TV Guest Appearances
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Miscellaneous Crew - filmography

Being There (1979) (singer: "Basketball Jones") (uncredited)
... aka Chance (1979)
... aka Willkommen, Mr. Chance (1980) (West Germany)





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filmography as: Actor, Writer, Composer, Director, Producer, Miscellaneous Crew, Himself, Notable TV Guest Appearances
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Himself - filmography
(2000s) (1980s)

You'll Never Wiez in This Town Again (2003) .... Himself


Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues (1988) (V) .... Himself
... aka Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues (1988) (V) (USA: video box title)
Tommy Chong Roast, The (1986) (TV) .... Himself
... aka Playboy Comedy Roast: Tommy Chong (1986) (TV)
Making of 'The Corsican Brothers', The (1984) (TV) .... Himself
Group Madness (1983) .... Himself
25th Annual Grammy Awards, The (1983) (TV) .... Himself
It Came from Hollywood (1982) .... Himself





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filmography as: Actor, Writer, Composer, Director, Producer, Miscellaneous Crew, Himself, Notable TV Guest Appearances
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Notable TV Guest Appearances

"South Park" (1997) playing "Chief Running Pinto" (voice) in episode: "Cherokee Hair Tampons" (episode # 4.7) 28 June 2000
"Dharma & Greg" (1997) playing "Carl" in episode: "Tie-Dying the Knot" (episode # 3.8) 9 November 1999
"Sliders" (1995) playing "Van Elsinger" in episode: "Stoker" (episode # 3.24) 9 May 1997
"Nash Bridges" (1996) playing "Barry Chen" in episode: "Wild Card" (episode # 2.22) 25 April 1997
"George Carlin Show, The" (1994) in episode: "George Helps Sidney" (episode # 1.5) 20 February 1994
"Miami Vice" (1984) playing "Jumbo" in episode: "Trust Fund Pirates" (episode # 2.22) 2 May 1986
"Hollywood Squares, The" (1966) playing "Guest Panelist" 1978
"Rollin' on the River" (1971) playing "Himself" 1972

[Serial Mom]

32. a$$kroft is nuts and a zealot!

9 months in federal prison for paraphernalia

and he is going after the Oregon assisted suicide law for the 3rd time in court cause the DOJ lost twice already!


what a waste of time and money!

this makes me :puke:

[dutchdemocrat]

35. HE DOESN'T EVEN SMOKE POT ANYMORE

Movie stoner Tommy Chong pleads guilty to peddling bongs



PITTSBURGH (AP) - Tommy Chong, who played one-half of the dope-smoking duo in Cheech and Chong movies, pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court Tuesday to conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia.

Chong also pleaded guilty on behalf of his business, Nice Dreams Enterprises, which made a line of marijuana bongs and pipes. Doing business as Chong Glass, Nice Dreams Enterprises sold glass pipes and bongs Chong acknowledged were used to smoke marijuana. Chong's lawyers said he was accepting responsibility but noted he was careful not to sell to minors.

"This isn't his work. His work is that of a comedian and satirist," said lawyer Richard Hirsch.

After the hearing, Chong said he does not use drugs.

"I don't smoke; I quit," he said.

The actor-comedian, who recently had a recurring role on Fox's That '70s Show, said he plans to return to what he's always done: speaking "the truth" in his comedy routines. He was scheduled to appear in Florida on Tuesday night.

Chong said he and Cheech Marin are back together and working on another movie; the two have appeared together in several films, including Up in Smoke and Still Smokin'. His plea, he said, will be part of the new film.

Chong's plea came after U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents purchased his paraphernalia and had them shipped to an undercover business. Agents also confiscated his company's paraphernalia during raids of "head shops" in numerous states and confiscated "thousands of marijuana bongs and pipes" in a raid of his Gardena, Calif., business.

The raids were part of a series by the DEA in which at least 55 people were charged with trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia. Officials said the investigation targetted the biggest U.S. Internet distributors of paraphernalia.

Chong is the first person to plead guilty in the raids, said U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.

Chong, 64, was released on recognizance bail but must have drug testing and remain in the U.S. District Court jurisdiction of his Pacific Palisades home, except to travel for work and court appearances.

He faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced Sept. 11. Federal guidelines call for six months to one year incarceration, though Buchanan said the government would not make a recommendation to Judge Arthur Schwab.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

37. I can finally sleep at night knowing that a 65 year old funny man and bong

maker is behind bars. Okay, everyone, lets sing "Proud to be an American...."

I LIVE IN THE FUCKING BIZARRO STATES OF AMERICA!


Feel safe.
Ashcroft watches over us all.

[Cha]

39. I just want to add my outrage to this news!

it's bush and company who should be going to jail for crimes against humanity.

I can't wait until this nightmare is OVER!

[DealsGapRider]

40. What a despicable policy.

Terrorists are trying to murder us, our ports are totally vulnerable and Asscroft is wasting resources pursuing pot smokers! Jesus Fucking Christ on a pogo stick. What's wrong with these people??

:wtf:

[Terwilliger]

41. Same thing that was wrong with Clinton? When he declared War on Prop 215?

and sent his "liberal" minion Barry "Iraqis are fun to kill" McAsscrack, who actively fought medical cannabis when he petitioned the government to take away licenses of doctors who would participate in recommending pot to anyone? Tod Mikuriya is suffering as a result of that policy TODAY, and Bush's actions simply follow in the pattern where neither party is willing to appear "soft on drugs"...

Yay team!

[Boudicea]

42. I hate this -- wonder if they strip-searched ...

Tommy like they did me. Bastards.

[dutchdemocrat]

43. I don't understand how you can bust someone

For Bongs. Weird. I had a bong returning from Thailand once and they found it in my luggage coming into LAX. My foot powder ended up going to the lab and they screamed at me for carrying paraphenalia through the States (I was stopping over en route to Canada to see mum).

Told me they would bust me if I did it again. Wonder if I ended up on some list? This was ten years ago.

[BushHasGotToGo]

44. Just because you're a celebrity doesn't mean you're immune from the law

This is America, not Holland. We change laws here by legal means.

[dutchdemocrat]

45. And we don't?

Last time I checked we had a democracy here.

[dutchdemocrat]

47. This sucks

That DU'ers should not take pot shots like insinuating we have no legal system here in Holland.

Unless you are not one. Do I smell a freeper here?

The Amsterdam stock market was 400 years old last year and is world's oldest.

I don't want to toot the horn but I enjoy living here. I have lived in the US and Canada. I don't give a shit about becoming filthy rich, I make a good living for my family, live in a good house, the neighbourhood is fine... I pay pretty heavy taxes but the streetlights work, the garbage gets picked up, the kids go to school free, healthcare is affordable, if you lose you job, unemployment benefits are 80 percent of your salary until you get on your feet, if you don't have a job you still get US$1200 a month and a extra money for a summer holiday... Imagine that? Going to Spain in the summer is a right here.

And our unemployment rate is under four per cent.

Eat it.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

49. You said it better than I could.

:toast:



Feel safe.
Ashcroft watches over us all.